Assassin Affairs (36 page)

Kristie and
Karlee again squirmed uncomfortably at the prospect. They all ogled
the pair of potential bisexual converts, hoping for an answer in the
affirmative.

“No
sex this time, Julie. This week is all about bonding non-sexually and
rescuing Kacey. Any other issues?”

“I
can't work with a bunch of dykes!” exclaimed Kristie.

“We're
not dykes; I hate that word!” Ashley shouted back. “We're
bisexual, we're progressive in our sexual attitudes and experiences.
We've all had or are having men, too. We have the best of both
worlds, we play with domination and submission. Life is short, one
should try new things in their journey through the years.”

“She
makes a valid point, sis” said Karlee. “Don't be so
narrow-minded.”

“I'm
a happily married woman. Who knows what diseases we'd catch with this
group?”

“I'll
take my clothes off for you, Julie,” Karlee offered. “It's
no big deal. Would it excite you? And if I do it, what will you do
for me?”

“What
would you want?”

“I
don't know. I'm new to all this stuff. What are you offering?”

Julie was
caught off-guard by the response and at a loss for words.

“C'mon,
Julie,” said Jessie. “Offer to show her the techniques
you learned back in Thailand.” She wiggled her tongue
teasingly.

“No
sex, you guys. Personality bonding tonight, not sexual bonding,”
said Pepper, knowing she was losing control of the group, but also
eager to see what might develop.

“What
better way to bond personalities than by sex?” Karlee inquired.
“It's the quickest way to get their respect, so it has to be
public. Right here, right now, Julie. How about it?” Karlee
pulled off her shoes and socks, then loosed her slacks. “Right
here next to the fire, it's nice and warm. I'll get naked, you come
over here and do all the work.”

Julie's
group started jeering at her, challenging her to come across with the
goods.

“I'm
not going to stay and watch such a thing,” said Kristie. “It's
too disgusting and gross!” When she attempted to go outside and
avoid it, the others held her back.

Julie
crawled across the cabin floor and pulled off Karlee's loosened
pants.

“I
want you naked, too,” Karlee requested. “Strip for me
first.”

“Have
Kristie strip her,” suggested Laura.

“No,
she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to do,” said
Pepper.

“Okay,
okay, I'll do it. If my sister is this anxious to bond with you guys,
this is the least I can do. Come over here, kid.”

She took
her time removing each item of clothing, as the others watched and
continued passing around the joint. Soon Julie stood nude in front of
her.

“You
can touch me there if you want to, Kristie.”

“No
thanks. Sorry guys, but this just doesn't do anything for me.”

“I
can tell that you want to. I'm good at reading people.”

“Go
for it, sis.” Karlee requested. “Let me know if she's wet
yet. You've got to pet a girl at least once in your lifetime. Pinch
her butt if nothing else.”

Kristie
gently ran her hand across the soft, bare bottom, then pinched it
hard.

“Ouch!”

“Now
that
was was kinda fun,” she conceded.

“Get
back over here, Julie,” ordered Karlee, now standing nude in
the center of the gathering. “I'm ready for you now. You've got
work to do.”

When the
pair eventually reached a stopping point, both remained naked,
everyone resumed relating their stories to one another as if nothing
had happened, and the group bonding was well underway. When the
evening wound down, each crawled into her own bed roll and slept like
a baby.

The crate
of guns arrived in the morning, along with a dozen sets of army
fatigues in varying sizes, brunette wigs for the sisters and other
assorted items.

“Put
these on, ladies,” ordered Pepper. “We're going to hang
out in town awhile and try to be noticed. Then we'll head into the
country and practice some attack maneuvers.”

As she
continued talking about their upcoming visit to scout the area with
the militia, Karlee whispered to Kristie. “She's behind Kacey's
abduction; I just know it!”

“I
agree. It's the only way she could have gotten us up here with this
group for a week of bonding. How do you want to handle it?”

“Let
her play out her hand. I'm curious to see where she's going with this
quest to get the nine of us working together. She doesn't have as
much leverage with us as she does with the others. If we don't like
the outcome, we kill her.”

“Works
for me,” said Kristie. “I wonder what's happening with
Kacey right now.”

“Let's
get closer to Pepper somehow and see if we can learn anything. She
seems delusional with her Presidential aspirations, but she has
accomplished quite a lot so far.”

Later that
evening, Kristie happened to run into Pepper down by the lake. It was
just the two of them, and the area was lit only by the moonlight.

“Hi
Pepper, I've been hoping for a chance to chat with you alone.”

“Hi,
Kristie. I admired the way you helped your sister on her banker
contract. That was some awesome shooting from what I hear. What was
it, three hundred yards?”

“Thanks.
Closer to five hundred actually. I could probably do a mile with that
top-of-the-line gear that I bought. What interest does the CIA have
in taking out a banker? I'm stunned to learn it was you behind it.”

“He
was a threat to capitalism. He posed a systemic risk to the entire
financial procedure with the excessive chances he was taking and
planning on continuing. When the government gave him billions in
bailout funds, he gave one of those billions to himself as a bonus.
That rankled the powers that be.”

“The
President ordered the hit?”

“Oh
no, he would never do that, Kristie. My boss wouldn't take that kind
of initiative either. When you have true power, the chain of command
isn't on paper.”

“What
do you mean?”

“There's
a ruling council made up of affluent, influential people. No one
knows exactly who is on the panel other than the members themselves.
I'm one of their facilitators. I'm one of the tools they use to make
things happen. When the CIA Director retires soon, they're going to
use that influence to ensure I get the position.”

“I've
never heard of this council, Pepper.”

“And
you never will from anyone other than me. I'm taking you into my
confidence on this matter. You can share it with your sister, but not
the others. I've worked with a lot of agents over the years, and it's
you two that have impressed me the most. I've come up with what I
consider the ideal agent profile, and everyone in this group fits it.
I want a person who is smart, open-minded, who wants to experience
life to the fullest, who will follow orders and who isn't afraid of
taking a risk.”

“Is
being bisexual another requirement?”

“No,
it just seems to come with the other attributes most of the time.”

“Tell
me more about this council, Pepper.”

“Have
you noticed things happen that don't really make sense, like some of
the morons who end up in Congress, when a powerful general falls from
grace, or when someone talking about a UFO experience disappears
forever or has a fatal accident?”

“Yeah,
lots of times. You're saying this council decides who wins
elections?”

“Oh
yeah, and that's the least of it. It's way more than that. With this
team we're making, we could move mountains. I could work my way onto
the council. I'm sure of it. We'll could neutralize anyone in our
way. I'll take you guys with me. You'll become one of the most
powerful women in the country, Kristie. It is going to happen. Trust
me.”

“Pepper.....”

“Yeah?....”

Kristie
moved closer to her, admiring how the moonlight lit up her face, and
excited for the first time by the prospects of being involved with
the group's future. She also wanted to get more information from her
about Kacey.

“Pepper,
I was wondering....wondering what it would be like to kiss you.”

“Come
closer, Kristie. Do you feel the chemistry between us?”

“I
feel something, pheromones maybe. I've never felt this way about
another woman before. It's unsettling.”

“Like
I said earlier, Kristie, I'm not interested in sex.”

“Then
why do I get the feeling you're about to kiss me, Pepper? Neither one
of us is interested in that kind of relationship.”

“I
know,” Pepper responded, staring into Kristie's eyes. The
moonlight reflected off the lake and danced across her face.

The two
women kissed.

“How
did that just happen?”

“I
don't know. What would your husband say, Kristie?”

“He
would be shocked. Karlee would be shocked. I'm a little stunned
myself.”

“Do
you love him?”

“Yes,
I do. We have an excellent relationship.”

The pair
stood in the dark, staring at one another, neither knowing what to
say next.

“Did
you facilitate our sister's disappearance in order to get us here?”

“Yes.
Would you have responded to such an invitation otherwise?”

“No.
Is she in danger?”

“I
only helped along destiny. Kacey made all her own choices. I covertly
nudged her along the path of getting involved with the young man who
is involved with the group. From there, nature took its course.
They're both at a camp a few miles from here. Apparently she tried to
break off the relationship and it didn't go well. There are just a
dozen of them and they're not very experienced, so the danger is
minimal. We should have no trouble taking them down. You two will be
your sister's heroes, and I'll have another successful mission on my
resume. If these fellows fit the profile, I seriously doubt any of
them watched the Oscar awards. Odds are Kacey doesn't yet know you
two are her sisters, and she certainly doesn't know you're affiliated
with the CIA!”

“Why
the ninth sleeping bag? Are you thinking we're going to keep her here
rather than take her home?”

“She
fits the profile. Kacey is a lot like you two. You three could bond
better without your folks around. She and Julie should get along well
as fellow computer hackers. Please consider giving it a week, then
the five of you can bond at your folks' place for a few months. Who
better to handle her orientation than her sisters? With the three of
you working together, with the nine of us as a team, the future will
belong to us!”

“This
is insane. It excites me, though. I have to go talk with Karlee.”

“Don't
share the council information with the other five. Their mob
affiliations could complicate things at this juncture. We'll have to
treat those relationships with finesse, Kristie.”

She updated
her sister on everything but the kiss. They agreed to remain flexible
and see how things played out. It was shortly past dawn the next
morning when Pepper awoke the group to startling news.

“The
bad news is the militia boys appear to know of Kacey's connection
with the sisters and the Carboni family. They feel that they should
be able to get a ransom from her wealthy sisters and are asking for a
million dollars. They've contacted a semi-retired, private
investigator to be the go-between, apparently picked at random on the
Internet, but she had to be near one of their friends, too, so he
could deliver a note. They gave her a website with a live feed from a
web-cam. At first, she thought your sister was handcuffed to a
downtown parking meter, because of the poor lighting. Now it looks
like it's a pole in a remote or abandoned parking lot. The P.I.
contacted the FBI, who saw my name on a file about the sisters and
referred the case to me.”

She opened
up her laptop and showed everyone the image of the live feed.

“You're
lucky your laptop gets a wi-fi signal up here,” said Renée.
“They must have boosted power to the tower.”

“She
looks so sweet and vulnerable. Those bastards! What's the good news?”
asked Karlee.

“We
have the element of surprise on our side. They have no idea we are
only a few miles away from their camp. These guys are rank amateurs,
and if we can figure out where this broadcast is coming from, we've
got 'em!”

“Danny's
lived in the area on-and-off for ten years,” said Renée.
“That's how we found the cabin Jessie was being held prisoner
in so fast. I'll call his cell and have him look at the website.”

She used
the old land-line in the cabin bedroom and returned a moment later.

“He
told me where it is. I can drive us there in fifteen minutes!”

They all
promptly armed themselves accordingly, climbed into their SUV and
departed. Fifteen minutes later they were in the area.

“Look
at that green van. See the way he's blocking that gate. I bet that's
it,” said Pepper.

Renée
snuck closer, looked in the window and reported back.

“It's
just some homeless guy with a bunch of fishing gear and food supplies
in the back. We got the right place, though. I saw Kacey about fifty
yards inside the fenced-in area and there's a panel van parked where
the camera must be. There could be three or four of them inside. I
couldn't see.”

“Maybe
it's a trap,” said one.

“I
told you these guys are amateurs,” said Pepper. “Let's
grab them, take their van and Kacey back to the cabin. Here are some
plasticuffs and gags.”

The sisters
ran toward Kacey, as the other six snuck up behind the panel van. As
the men got out to stop the sisters, the gang subdued them.

“Can
you wake up, honey? We're here to rescue you. It's Kristie and Karlee
Kingston.”

Her eyes
could barely focus, but had a look of recognition in them as they
undid her bindings. Soon everyone was back at the mountainside cabin.